Perfect Weather (Newport, OR)

We were happy to leave Florence, OR last week.  It rained almost the whole time we were there.  It rained so much that natural springs were popping up in the middle of the campground's dirt roads.  It would not be so bad if the campground had less dense growth and a better run-off system for the rain.  It just felt muddy and wet all the time.  The floors were a constant mess and hard to keep up with them.  They are clearing timber in the park to open it up, so it may be better by next year.

Florence

 Whenever it would stop raining, we would rush outside to get in some walks.  We spent most of our time in or around the RV park.  We weren't very enthused with getting out in the wind and rain along the coastal areas with cliffs.

Heathers in bloom

We are a lot happier in our new site in Newport.  We have had more sunshine and the roads are not as muddy in the campground.  The cats are certainly a lot happier.  They are not tracking in as much debris and the floors are staying a lot cleaner. 

you are my sunshine....my only sunshine....mine!

We had to go see the sea lions in Newport's Historic Bayfront area.  There were not as many as last fall and they were not very active, but they were still fun to see again.

 Newport's Historic Bayfront area

Sea Lions

 We also went back to Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  As you can see, the weather was absolutely gorgeous!  We walked up Communications hill to get a different view of the lighthouse and found it was a great place to view the surrounding area as well.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

 We could see for miles up and down the coast and not a single rain cloud within our view.

On another nice day, we went to Nye Beach.  We walked along the beach and then into the downtown area stopping along the way to view menus.  Some of them sounded pretty good.  Guess we will have to go back to try some of them.  We could not pass up a pastry shop though, so Dan got a big cookie and Sandy decided on a strawberry with lavender scone.

There's some interesting art work around the downtown area.  This one had our attention for a while.

We are not quite sure what it means, but it was well done with plenty of details.  The more we looked at the more we saw we missed on our first time around it.

Our only complaint with our campsite in Newport is the slow or non-existent WiFi.  In order to get online, we have to spend time in the family center or constantly reboot our own broadband connection.  

Well, by the time we post again, we will be a little farther north.  So until then...Happy Trails!

Smells A Little Fishy (Florence, OR)

Ta-Da!  Our new shower door!  Dan did a great job installing it once we got the correct size, of course.  The door has a very strong magnet so it stays closed during travel.  But just in case, we have the cat's litter box in front of it while we are moving down the road.  No need to take a chance on breaking our new glass door.

Since our last posting, we have moved several times.  We spent four nights at Ft. Stevens State Park where we walked around the old battery and what was left of the Civil War fort.

Our next move was to Newhalem Bay State Park.  Most of our time there was spent indoors due to the two storms that were moving through the northwest.

Newhalem State Park

We braved the cold windy days a couple of times just to get a little exercise.  We liked what we saw and we hope to stop by here again sometime in the future.

Port of Garibaldi 

Back on the road again, we headed south of Tillamook to Newport.  It is so nice to have blue sky again!  We spent the afternoon walking the Historic downtown area.

Newport, OR

We followed our noses.....

and the sea lions' barking to the docks.  

roll over, dude!

Looks like we are not the only ones enjoying the sunshine.

I am smiling!

Moving on....

Draw bridge Florence, OR

We are settled in Florence for the next three weeks or until the weather turns bad.  Which ever comes first.  Right now, the forecast is for lots of sunshine...well, we know how that goes, so we will see.

Happy Trails!

Newport, Oregon

We have been spending most of our time in the local area. It has rained almost every day since we got here, but it hasn’t kept us from enjoying the sights, food, and the beaches. We have also been spending some time just hanging out in our campground. Whalers Rest is a very nice campground. It is heavily wooded with trails and just a walk across the highway from the beach.

It’s a good thing we are only staying in this area for three weeks. Every time we order food it is a very generous amount. Whether it was breakfast burritos from Super Oscar’s Mexican Food in Newport or a scoop of ice cream on Lincoln City’s waterfront, they were big enough for two people and very tasty.

It is advised to travel southbound if you want to make frequent stops along the coast as all the scenery and all the pull offs are on the ocean side.   So, we drove to Lincoln City and turned around to head back south to view the scenery. In one section, we drove the Otter Crest Loop instead of staying on Hwy 101. The Loop is a one-way starting from the north end. The drive is very scenic with tree covered winding roads giving us glimpses of the cliffs and the ocean. There were quite a few pullover areas and we took advantage of stopping to take in the views. We stopped at Cape Foulweather’s Look-Out Observatory and Gift Shop. We could not believe this building was built in 1937 on the edge of a 500 foot cliff! Talk about a view! Wow! It is absolutely breathtaking! As usual the pictures in our Webshots album do not give the view the justice it deserves, but we try.

We visited both lighthouses in the area: Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is the only wooden lighthouse and was decommissioned after 3 years because the Yaquina Head Lighthouse was so close that it was confusing the ships. The local Historic Societies renovated and refurnished the old lighthouse after saving it from demolition. They did a wonderful job of bringing the old place back to life. After our self-tour, it was hard to believe this place had been neglected for almost a 100 years.

At the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, we were able to go all the way to the Lantern room in the 93ft tower. We spent a couple of hours exploring the tidepools during low tide and watching the Harbor Seals. Yep, more pictures of the tidepools are in our Oregon album on webshots.

Sandy found the Yaquina Bay Bridge very interesting the first time we crossed it. The unusual Art Deco design on the bridge looked very old yet the bridge looked strong and in good condition. She decided to look it up online and found out it was built in 1936. It was the last of six bridges to be designed by Conde B. McCullough to link Oregon’s coastal highway. We came across two more bridges built by McCullough. One is on the Otter Crest Loop and the other is in Walport. Of course, Sandy had to take pictures of the bridges’ Art Deco. You can see the Bridges in Webshots. Sandy also started mumbling something about not having the right color scheme for an Art Deco quilt while digging through her stash    ..….uh-oh…